Shipping and dispensing cartons



Oct. 20, 1959 1. A. GOVANG SHIPPING AND DISPENSING CARTONS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 22, 1958 FIG. I

IIJV NTOR. fixes fa 0d. 20, 1959 J. A. GOVANG SHIPPING AND DISPENSING CARTONS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 22, 1958 INVEN OR.

MZafi dTTORNEY Oct. 20, 1959 J. A. GOVANG SHIPPING AND DISPENSING CARTONS s Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 22, 1958 I I l I I l I J l I I I l I I llllll ZVVgNTOR BY M4 &

United States Patent SHIPPING AND DISPENSING CARTONS Application September 22, 1958, Serial No. 762,509

7 Claims. (Cl. 229-17) This invention relates to cartons and resides more particularly in a novel carton, which is suitable for shipping finely divided or granular material, small articles, etc., and may be readily altered at its point of use, so that its contents are accessible for dispensing. Cartons for shipping and dispensing various products are not new but, as made heretofore, such cartons are open to various objections, as, for example, they are frequently made of two separate blanks and are costly to produce. Also, certain of theprior cartons do not form a tight shipping package unless auxiliary sealing means are employed.

The carton of the invention overcomes the disadvantages of prior cartons, in that it is made from a single blank and the blank can be folded and glued, while traveling rectilinearly, so that these operations can be rapidly performed on straight-line equipment. In addition, the new carton can be made in different forms for use for dilferent purposes, as, for example, as a bird feeder, a dispensing carton for individual pieces of candy, etc.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank for one form of the new carton suitable for final use as a bird feeder;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the blank of Fig. 1 partially folded and glued and with parts broken away;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the lower end of the closed carton made from the blank of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the carton with the feeder trough open;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the blank for a second form of the carton suitable for dispensing small pieces of candy;

'Fig. 6 is a plan view, with parts broken away, of a collapsed glued carton made from the blank of'Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a view in perspective of the closed carton made from the blank of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the carton of Fig. 7 with the dispensing trough open; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on the line 99 of Fig. 8.

The new carton in the form illustrated in Figs. 1-4, inclusive, is made from a blank which includes a front Wall 10, a top wall 11, a rear wall 12, and a bottom wall 13 connected together in the order named along crease lines, one of which is indicated at 14. The front wall is provided with a glue flap 15 along its free edge and a trough panel 16 is connected to the free edge of the bottom wall 13 along'a partially severed line 17. The body is provided with suitable end closures which, in the carton shown, include flaps 18, 19 secured to the side edges of the front wall, flaps 20, 21 secured to the side edges of the top wall, flaps 22, 23 secured to the side edges of the rear wall, and flaps 24, 25 secured to the side edges of the bottom wall. The flaps at each side of the body are adapted to be turned in one upon the other and secured together in the usual way.

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Near its lower end, the front wall is formed with a discharge opening 26, the opening continuing a short distance into the glue flap 15. At its upper end, the opening is defined by the lower edge of a tab- 27, which is secured to the front wall at its upper edge along a crease line 28 and is elsewhere severed from the wall.

The trough panel 16 is provided with wings 29, 30 secured to its side edges along crease lines and the wings are formed with end sections 290, 30a defined by crease lines 31, 32 extending diagonally across the wings from the ends of the trough panel near the ends of line 17. A glue flap 33 is secured along a partially severed line 34 to the free edge of the trough panel 16 and the panel is formed with a tab 16a, which extends into the flap. The panel is provided with crease lines 35, 36, which extend approximately from the ends of the line 17 to opposite sides of the tab 16a.

In forming the carton from the blank shown in Fig. l, the blank is folded along the crease lines between the walls and the glue flap 15 is secured to the inner surface of the bottom wall 13 adjacent the line 17. The wings 29, 30 are then turned inwardly to lie against the face of the trough panel 16 and glue is applied to the exposed surfaces of the end sections 29a, 30a and also to the 1 upper surface of the glue flap 33. With the wings held in folded position, the trough panel is swung so that the glued surfaces of the end sections of the wings are secured to the front face of the front wall 10 on opposite sides of the opening 26 and the glue flap 33 is secured to the frontwall so that it partially overlies the tab 27. When the carton is to be filled, the closure flaps at one side are turned in and secured one upon the other and, after the carton has been turned to rest upon its closed side and filled, the closure flaps at the other side are similarly secured together.

The filled carton holds its contens tightly, since the sides are closed by the overlapped glued flaps and the opening 26 through the front wall is closed by the trough panel 16. At the pointof use, the carton may be convetted into a bird feeder by pushing in the tab 16a to detach it from the lower edge of the glue flap 33. The tab 27, partially severed from the front wall 10, permits tab 16a to be moved inwardly and, when tab 16a has been separated from the glue flap, the tab can be grasped and pulled to free the top of the trough panel 16 from the lower edge of the glue flap. As the trough panel is swung forwardly, the wings 29, 30 swing away from the front wall along the diagonal lines 31, 32 at the inner edges of the end sections 29a, 30a, which are glued to the front wall. As the trough formed by the trough panel and wings swings outwardly, the seed within the carton begins to flow out through the discharge opening 26 into the trough until the trough is partially filled. When a bird alights on the upper edge of the trough panel, the panel swings outwardly under the weight of the bird and this tends to enlarge the trough so that additional seed may flow into it. When the bird flies away, the resilience of the paperboard tends to swing the trough panel and Wings toward the front wall but the contents of the trough prevent the trough from moving back against the front wall. The continued movement of the trough back and forth toward and away from the front wall discharges substantially all of the contents of the carton and the residue may be discharged into the trough by tilting the carton.

The blank shown in Fig. 5 is for a carton to be used in dispensing small pieces of candy, such as individually wrapped mints, and includes a front wall 37, a top wall 38, a rear wall 39, and a bottom wall 40, connected together in the order named along crease lines, such as the line 41. The carton is provided with means for closmeans include flaps 42, 43 connected to the side edges of the front wall and provided at their free ends with tuck flaps 44, 45, respectively. The closure means also include flaps'46, 47 secured to the side edges of the top wall and similar flaps 48, 49 secured to the'side edges 'of the bottomwall. 1""

-The front wall is cut away at its lower'end to form an opening 50, which is partly defined at its sides by a pair of flap sections 51, 52 hinged to the'flaps 42, 43 and connected to the remainder of the front wall along partially severed lines 53, 54. The flap sections 51, 52 have diagonal lower edges, from which extend tongues 51a, 52a, respectively.

The free edge of the bottom wall is connected along a crease line to a trough panel 55, which is provided with lateral wings 56, 57. The wings are connected to the panel along crease lines and U-shaped cuts 58, 59 formed in the trough panel with their ends lying in such crease lines define openings at the ends of the panel, when the wings are bent out of the plane of the panel. The wings are provided with respective triangular end sections 56a, 57a, each of which is separated from the remainder of its wing along a diagonal crease line. I

A glue flap 60 is connected to the free edge of the trough panel along a partially severed line 61 and the trough panel is provided with a tab 55a, which projects into the glue flap beyond the line 61.

In converting the blank shown in Fig. 5 into a carton, the blank is folded along its transverse creaselines to bring the lower edge of the front wall adjacent the connection between the bottom wall 40 and the trough panel 55. The wings are then folded inward and the end sections 56a, 57a are secured by glue to the outer faces of the flap sections 51, 52 of the front wall. The glue flap 60 is also secured to the front wall so that it overlies the upper end of the opening 50.

one side of the carton, such as the flaps 43, 47, and-49, are closed by turning in the flaps 47, 49 and folding the flap 43 upon them. The tuck flap 45 is then inserted to lie against the front face of the rear wall and, if desired, the tuck flap 45 may be formed with a notch 45a and the rear wall 39 may be formed with a tongue 39a-defined by slots, so that the bottom wall of the notch mayenter the slots and interlock the tuck flap and rear wall. The carton is then set to rest on its closed side and the articles to be dispensed are inserted into the carton and the other trough in fully extended position. With the detachment of the flap sections 51, 52 from the front wall and their movement into contact with the trough wings, the opening at the bottom of the front wall is enlarged so that it extends entirely across the wall. The contents of the carton then flow into the trough and access to the interior of the carton for removal of the last of its contents is easy.

In the cartons shown, the body is formed of a tube extending horizontally and closed by flaps at the sides of the carton and thisconstruction is preferred, since it facilitates gluing and straight-line machinesmay be used. However, if desired, th e carton tube may be vertical, in which case, the sides are closed by walls and the top and bottom by flaps, 7 4

I claim:

1. A carton for shipping and dispensing purposes, which comprises a hollow body including a front wall with an opening near its lower end, a rear wall, a top, a bottom closure formed by a flap attached to the lower edge of the rear wall, means closing the sides of the body, and means for connecting the lower end of the front wall to the flap, a trough panel hinged to the flap adjacent the lower edge of the front wall' and extending upward from that edge in overlapping'relation to the lower edge of the front wall and closing the opening therein, and a pair of wings connected along hinge lines to the side edges of the trough panel and infolded against the front wall, the wings having end sections secured to the front wall at opposite sides of the opening and defined in part by hinge lines extending across the wings at an angle.

2. The carton of claim 1, in which the top is hinged to the upper edges of the front and rear walls and'the means for closing'the sides of the body are a plurality of flaps hinged to the body walls. I

3. The carton of claim 1, in which the end sections of the wings are substantially triangular.

4. The carton of claim 1, in which the upper edge of the trough panel is detachably connected to the lower edge of a glue flap secured to the front wall above the opening. I r a 5. The carton of claim 1,- in which the upper edge of the trough panel has a projecting tab movable inwardly side is closed by the inward folding of flaps 42, 46, and

At the point of use, the trough panel is detached from the glue flap 60 and swung outwardly. For this P11113088, the tab a is pushed inwardly until the top edge of the trough panel may be grasped and pulled forward to free the panel from the glue flap. As the trough panel is moved forward, the wings swing away from the front wall and, as the movement of the panel and wings continues, the flap sections 51, 52 are torn from the front Wall along the lines 53, 54. The detachment of the flap sections permits the trough panel to be swung outwardly to lie at a considerable angle, such as an angle of 45 to the vertical and the swinging of the flap sections continues until they lie at right angles to the plane of the front wall. In this position, the tongues 51a, 52a on the flap sections can be inserted in the openings formed at the ends of the trough panel 55 by the cuts 58, 59 and the flap sections are thus locked in place and hold the through the opening. p I

6. The carton of claim 5, in which the front wall has a tab in the upper part of the opening lying beneath the tab on the trough panel and movable inwardly therewith as the trough panel flap is movedinwardly through the opening. 7 4 a 7. The carton of claim- 1, in Which-the front wall includes flap sections hinged to the side closures and connected to the end sections of the wings, the flapsections having tongues at their. free ends receivable in openings in the hinge lines between the adjacent wings and the side edges of the trough panel, 4

References Cited inthe file patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain se i.'27,' i937 

